the sunday night before i returned to work, i found myself in my living room wearing a coat because it was so cold, typing up show notes for this episode. northeast america is in a deep freeze right now, but my wife reminded me that we both attended college at (and for a time, resided in) albany, ny. their winter season is no joke. i think we're getting older. sure, it's insanely cold outside, but we don't absorb it like we used to.

hopefully, this show will be as welcome to you as a warm sweater, blanket, and hot cup of cocoa or cider. the first of two overview shows for 2009, there's a lot of audio firepower in this one. musically, the genres are coming together and two bands here prove that: phantogram and glass ghost. an itunes customer review actually described phantogram as "what music will sound like in 2010" and i completely agree. i love the hip-hop head nod of "as far as i can see" with sarah's breathy vocals and electronic pop accessibility. it's my favorite cut from the eyelid movies album (check out the EPK above to find out more about the band). meanwhile, "the same" by glass ghost is anything but the same ol' thing. i've been referring to it as outsider funk. it sounds like the type of song a recluse would make when they're getting their personal party on and they don't care who's looking. by the end of the song, it sounds like a carnival where everyone's invited. there's nothing else like it on the show and i've been dying to share that song with you.

two of my absolute favorite netlabels stand strong on this episode: error broadcast and just plain sounds. the title cut from EB's bag of nothingness compilation starts off the show (respect due to comfort fit on the production) while oh.bliv's "send it on down" brings a neck-snapping holy hip-hop instrumental to your headphones (an unconventional hymnal addition for sure...). renzu comes to us via japan's bumpfoot netlabel with the stirring "amasawa". don't sleep on their across the threshold album - simply gorgeous. the beautiful moments don't stop there, either. pay particular attention to eric kupper's remix of john shannon's "somewhere", a cut that my podcast partners anji bee and darren keith have both played on their shows last year and i just had to represent for it as well. new villager's "rich doors" is one of those songs that'll get stuck in your head and you will be too busy smiling to ask it to pay room and board. cotton jones is another one of those ensembles that will instantly make you feel good. i loved the rio ranger e.p. from the first time i heard it and "where you stop for a minute" has that pastoral, slightly left-of- center vibe that you can't help but find intriguing. and good LORD, julien dyne's "fallin' down" is just spectacular. seriously, what are they putting in the water in new zealand and can they ship a few cases to the u.s.?

of course, a BSOTS show wouldn't be complete without some hip-hop and we've got plenty to spare. foreign beggars bring the hotness with "higher," flako + noir provide a killer cut with "w0oop", mantis gets the party going with "what," and brother ali bares his soul on "us." add in some midtempo electronic goodness from city rain and a dizzying instrumental from cy tru and you have the first 15 songs from the 2009 overview. it's shows like these that get me very excited for what awaits us musically in 2010. after hearing this one, i hope you feel the same way. HAPPY NEW YEAR...

p.s. scroll past the tracklisting and receive a bonus mix: 15 of my personal favorites from year one of wfmu's free music archive...

it's only been about a month and change, but it feels like i've been away for much longer. this show features a wonderful set from remix pioneer john morales. it also features voiceovers from my job, with both recorded in one take. i rarely ever do this, but i poured the negative energy from the nine-to-five into the voiceovers and somehow, i was able to pull it off. please forgive my babbling on this episode, but like i said...i've been away for a while. a lot has happened.

and if you're wondering what the Christmas song was that started the show, that was "x-mas 2009 joint" by my man cy tru.

PLEASE NOTE: both "all over your face" by ronnie dyson and "barely breaking even" by universal robot band can be found on the m&m mixes. i thought class action's "weekend" was the third cut from the mix that made it onto the release, but that's not the case. at any rate, there are some serious joints on there and you can find it available at iTunes, bbe music, and a host of other digital platforms.

GRAMMY World Music Nominee: Mamadou DiabateNow Playing: the sounds of kora playing dancing in my head...Topic: grammys2010

For some people, tradition is something to break away from. For the people of Mali, tradition is essential to the survival of heritage. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the family of griots. To be a griot (or jeli in West African terminology) is not something you learn, but a privilege you are born into. They are the bards of their homeland, the entertainers, the historians. They are the ones who protect and pass down the oral tradition. It is a lineage that reaches back at least seven centuries and with it comes the kora, a harp-like instrument with the sonic familiarity of a Spanish guitar. It is one thing to see someone play a six-string fretless bass with skill. It is quite another to take command of 21 strings with only the index finger and thumb of both hands.

Mamadou Diabate is a member of this grand tradition. As his playing certainly indicates, he was born to be a jeli. Holding fast to the skills passed down by his father, Douga Mansa features Diabate at the top of his craft, a masterful kora player. As wonderful as it is to listen to him perform with his ensemble, his solo recordings are outstanding. Between the speed of his runs and the fluid nature of his technique, it’s hard to believe that this is all coming from one person. The song that I keep returning to from the album is “Bi Allah La Ke.” Diabate works from a central theme and is free to go where the moment takes him, always keeping the main melody close by no matter far off those lightning fast riffs take him. For further evidence of why the GRAMMY® nod for Best Traditional World Music Album is well deserved, take a look at the grand griot doing what he does best...

47 days and counting...Now Playing: excitement in the mind and the belly...Topic: grammys2010

The new and improved GRAMMY.com premiered today and it's a pretty slick-looking site. Blogs are representin' big time and it's wild to see my first piece posted up there with the other community bloggers and cats like Shepard Fairey in the mix. Incredible.

So if you haven't guessed yet, The Recording Academy® is really working this We're All Fans angle, as evidenced by the social media share aspects of the new GRAMMY site. The 30-second TV spot in anticipation of the January 31st ceremonies has been making the rounds. Highlights from the nominations concert can more than likely be found on the GRAMMYs YouTube Channel.

And as for myself, diving deeper into the music of the world. Coming up next time: Mamadou Diabate...

It’s about that time we start getting to know each of the world music nominees for the 52nd Annual GRAMMY® Awards. Since Mali has the greatest representation this year within the world music field, let’s kick things off with a husband and wife duo that’s up for Best Contemporary World Music Album: Amadou & Mariam.

For almost 30 years now, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia have been recording and performing together. Ever since fate allowed them to cross paths at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako (Mali’s capital city), their journey through life and music has been a magical one. Singing in French, English, and their own West African dialect, their sound is rooted in Malian blues and folk interwoven with rock and reggae motifs. The end result is engaging Afro-pop that has won them critical acclaim from all over the globe. It was their 2003 album Dimanche a Bamako that introduced them to the world outside of Mali and some consider their latest album, the GRAMMY nominated Welcome To Mali, as their finest to date.

To listen to one of their recordings or to see one of their live performances is to witness the strength of their bond as an unbreakable musical scale, Mariam’s voice and Amadou’s guitar echoing each other’s joy and sadness. In addition to being great artists, they have also been appointed as Ambassadors for Culture (Art) to the Zeitz Foundation, an organization dedicated to protecting the Earth’s ecosphere through various international and social projects. Tying into this environmental cause, Amadou and Mariam appeared in an all-star cover version of Midnight Oil’s “Beds Are Burning” as part of a global climate justice campaign. As if all that weren’t enough, they will also perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway on December 11 to honor this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, President Barack Obama.

Here’s the video for “Masiteladi,” one of three singles from their Welcome To Mali album.

Maybe I’m wrong, but something tells me that the rest of the world doesn’t refer to what they do as “world music.” That term is a distinctly American one, part of that curiously Western phenomenon of attempting to brand what you cram to understand. Over the several decades that the phrase has been in existence, world music has been defined a number of different ways. Some observe it as traditional folk music from various parts of the globe while others have used the genre as a wide net in which to capture all non-Western musical styles. At best it’s a term which recognizes the instrumentation, vocal phrasing, and rich culture of localized musicianship worldwide (even if you're not always sure of what exactly you're listening to or what to call it). At worst it’s categorical purgatory, that place where you drop off sounds birthed from an exceptionally talented player from another part of the earth simply because you don’t have the time (or the patience) to get to know it on its own terms.

Call me crazy, but I think world music deserves better. Nestled within that middle-aged tag cloud are sonic droplets from an extremely diverse harmonic climate. There are traditional and modern takes on rhythms, melodies and dialects from countless ethnic backgrounds. For those of us who are plugged in and logged on to the Internet and various social networking sites, the idea of the “global village” is our everyday existence. And for those of us who are fans of music, seeking out sounds from another part of the world has never been easier. It would stand to reason that if music is the universal language that we claim it to be, then that which falls underneath the world music umbrella ought not be so foreign to us stateside. Considering the amount of love that American artists receive overseas and knowing that love isn’t always reciprocated in support of hometown heroes from distant lands, perhaps examining the 52nd Annual GRAMMY® Awards Nominees for world music will help remedy that.

Within the category of Best Traditional World Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental), the diversity immediately becomes apparent. Mamadou Diabate (a highly revered kora player from Mali, West Africa) has been nominated for Douga Mansa while Liz Carroll and John Doyle bring a kick to Celtic folk music with fiercely engaging performances on Double Play. Conversations in traditional Middle Eastern and Indian instrumentation are explored by Rahim Alhaj and Amjad Ali Khan on their Ancient Sounds album. Rounding out the nominees are two recordings predominantly focused on the drum: the Afro-Cuban influenced La Guerra No from John Santos Y El Folklórico Kindembo and the Taiwanese percussion of the Ten Drum Art Percussion Group’s Drum Music Land.

As for the category of Best Contemporary World Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental), there is some serious competition. American banjo player and nine-time GRAMMY Award winner Béla Fleck is in the running with Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 - Africa Sessions. Speaking of Africa, Nigeria’s own Femi Kuti has been nominated for his Day By Day full-length while the joyous Afro-pop stylings of Amadou and Miriam will be recognized for their album, Welcome To Mali. Cuban pianist Omar Sosa is rightfully within great company due to his mesmerizing release, Across The Divide: A Tale of Rhythm & Ancestry. Last but certainly not least, the alluring vocals of Oumou Sangare (another Malian artist) are the driving force behind her latest album, Seya.

Mali has a strong showing within the world music field across the board and one might think they have it on lock, but the overall talent here is technically amazing and downright awe-inspiring. It is my hope to shine the spotlight on each of these artists in future posts between now and January 31st, 2010 when the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place. You can follow the GRAMMYs on Twitter and Facebook and there’s even a Twitter link for all the community bloggers as well. After sampling a little bit from each of the world music nominees this year, I am extremely excited to be a part of this project and to learn more about music that I wouldn’t know otherwise. As I've been saying recently on my podcast, the more you listen to, the more you'll find.

one of the fans...Now Playing: v/a - beat battle at the rooms of red bull - the afterthoughtTopic: grammys2010

So it's official: I am one of the community bloggers for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. In some ways I'm taking it in stride and in others, I'm bouncing off the walls a little bit. What's funny is that I almost talked myself out of it. As the badge above suggests, I'll be covering the World Music category, a field that has two different album categories: traditional and contemporary. I honestly didn't know if I had what it took to go in on this like I thought it should be done and as I was explaining my reasons for why I thought I shouldn't do it, I ended up laying out the perfect reason for why I should. Life's funny like that.

Then again, it was around this time last year that I found myself in a conference room at work during my lunch break, pitching a podcast idea called "grammys on shuffle" over the phone to one of the marketing managers at The Recording Academy. I never saw myself as much of a pitch man until that day. Interesting how the things that you're passionate about can get you into that zone. And if you're anything like me, music gets you in that zone. And seeing as how I love coming across new music or something that I never heard before, blogging for the World Music category offers that ability to get to know something new and different...and be able to see and hear harmonies and melodies through another country's perspective and experiences.

So there's a Grammy nominations concert taking place on Wednesday, December 2nd at 9PM on CBS. That's the jump-off, more or less. The theme this year is "We're All Fans." A number of the bloggers will be on Twitter that night posting tweets live, so you can find us all here. The actual ceremonies commence on Sunday, January 31, 2010. Any and all Grammy happy haps you need to know can be found at grammy.com.

So while I'm involved in a different way than podcasting last year, I'm very happy to be writing on the regular again. This time around should prove to be quite interesting...

family plans turned out different than usual this year. my aunt normally plays host for thanksgiving dinner, but she was laid up in the hospital for four days prior to turkey day. thankfully, she's better now and checked in on my wife, daughter and i prior to heading off to maryland. apparently there was a general concensus among other family members that our reunion this summer packed quite a punch on everyone's finances, so things were scaled back considerably for november 26th and everyone just did their own thing.

honestly, that worked out well this year. my wife was burnt out from work and various family issues of her own, so it was a small thanksgiving feast at home. a roasted organic chicken with stuffing, broccoli, candied yams, and apple crumble for dessert. just wifey, my daughter, and i. it was wonderful. quiet. and necessary.

i am thankful for my wife beth and my daughter simone. thankful for family and friends wherever they might be. thankful for having a job that drives me crazy, but still puts food on the table. thankful for having the ability to hear my daughter's voice whenever i come home from work and she calls out to greet me while running towards me. thankful for music in all its many forms and for the podcast as a platform to share the sounds i find with others.

and i'm thankful for the person who heard my reasons for why i didn't want to do something and saw them as the very reason why i should. and thankful for the knowledge that there were takeaway points from that conversation that will be useful long after an upcoming project is complete. those points ought to be applied even more so in my spiritual walk. always interesting when things happen within the secular realm that speak directly towards what you might be dealing with within the spirit realm. hmmm...

today i remembered why i love listening to media hacks: the spontaneity of conversation and thought. i just listened to episode #20 and it set off a bunch of thoughts in my head. the seed was planted with episode #19. heard that one while exercising and at one point, mitch joel talked about hearing others say to him, "i don't know who i should blog for." to which he replied, "blog for yourself."

that really resonated with me. i keep saying to myself that i don't have the time to write. actually, i do. the list of daily accomplishments needs to be a shorter list, a more realistic one. jotting down a few thoughts every other day shouldn't be a goal that's out of reach. i dig twitter, but the work day is too swamped to fire off those 140 characters like i did when i first came across it. besides that, i was reminded by mitch and julien smith that a "tweet" is the data equivalent of a fart in the wind: it's there for a period of time, but after that it disappears. and once a tweet disappears, it's very difficult to find again. blog entries, however, have staying power and are far easier to search.

prior to this entry, i wrote another music review for impose magazine and it felt good to stop stalling and just get it done. and every week (or every other week), i've been posting a blog entry over at wfmu's free music archive. been rather consistent with it, too. basically, i need to force myself to go beyond the 140 characters and write. but right now, a brother needs sleep...

it's not often that extended 90-minute shows happen around here, so when they do i make sure that i have a good excuse. this episode features the remix work of bugz in the attic and their got the bug 2 compilation. i found out while recording this show that the j. viewz cover of "smooth criminal" is also available on that compilation, not just the tru thoughts covers collection. there are a few selections from other artists here that i thought would complement the bugz material well. big shouts to myriel at bbe music for sending afronaught's promo mix my way. hope you've got your dancing shoes on...